Stop Running
by superboetti
Summary: He finally meets Parker, but a lot sooner than expected. Gibbs/Samantha Ryan
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: I've had the feeling that many of you not really like the Character of Samantha Ryan, which I don't really understand. I think she is perfect for Gibbs! **

**I've had the idea for this story for a long time and I finally got to typing it down, I hope you like it and that the fact that it's a fanfic about Gibbs and Ryan doesn't scare you away. So here is the first chapter…**

* * *

Two weeks… it had been two weeks since he had last seen her and he was worried. He was finally somewhere in his life where he wanted to move forward and not just find a substitute for Shannon. His gut was telling him though that something was wrong, sometimes he had the feeling that he was more in their relationship than she was. She had said so herself, she wished she could stop running. He knew how she felt and what she meant, he had done a lot of running himself.

But finally he was standing still. Now he just needed her to stop running too.

He thought after they had spent the night together, and after the case with Ziva's friend, that they were moving forward, but now two weeks later he wasn't so sure anymore. All he could hope for was that she wasn't running away from him.

He had thought about driving to her office with some pizza, just to see if she was still interested. Yeah, maybe he should do that. He did owe her after all. It had been a long time since he had had a good night as the one two weeks ago.

For the past two weeks his days had been pretty much the same: Work, eat, drink coffee and keeping himself busy while waiting for her to call. This morning though he had a gut feeling that he was gonna see her again, but not in a good way.

His day started out as it normally did though.

"You couldn't be more wrong!" Tony's voice could be heard all through the office as Gibbs stepped out of the elevator. "We can't give Palmer and Breena a gravy boat, we're his cool friends." Gibbs walked a little bit more slowly watching his team sit in the middle of the bull-pen. _Camp-fire_, he thought with a smirk.

"Well Tony, then what do you suggest?" Ziva asked.

"Anything that doesn't end up collecting dust up in the attic. Do you ever wonder how many Gibbs still has in his attic, I mean four marriages that's 4 gravy boats."

He let Tony finish the sentence before slapping the agent's back of the head.

"Mornin' Boss." Tony said with a painful groan.

"Shouldn't you be working instead of talking about my kitchen china?"

The three of them mumbled "Yes Gibbs" and rolled their chairs back to their desks. McGee started typing on his keyboard while Tony and Ziva went back to the files on their desks. He kept a close eye on them while enjoying the rest of his coffee.

* * *

It was around noon, when a day that was going to be filled with cold cases, got a lot more interesting.

He was just about to take his coat off after coming back from a coffee and CafPow run, when his phone rang.

"Please let it be a case…" He could hear Ziva mumble, Gibbs knew how much she hated looking for a possible case in cold-case files. Tony and McGee stopped what they were doing as well and the hope in their eyes wasn't missed on Gibbs. And to be honest he was hoping for a fresh case too.

"Yeah Gibbs" He answered as usual. It only took 10 seconds before disappointed sighs could be heard all through the bull-pen when Gibbs said: "I'll be right up, Director." His team watched as Gibbs headed up the stairs.

He entered the Director's office and stood in front of the huge desk waiting for Leon to start talking.

"The director of the FBI called, he has a case for us. The son of a Navy Admiral was murdered by what looks like a sniper, while he was eating his lunch between classes at the Oak Harbour Academy."

Gibbs paled, that's Parker's school. He needed to get there. He was just about to rush out when Leon called him back.

"SecNav wants this handled in a hurry, so I'm sending my best team. Don't let me down."


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Here's the second chapter! Hope you enjoyed the first and thank you for the reviews…**

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He sprinted down the stairs and nearly knocked a couple of people over before he reached his desk and got his badge and gun, and then he ran to the elevator. He looked behind him but there was no one there his team was still at the bull-pen.

"Today!"

Gibbs slammed his hand against the elevator door startling everybody in the office and getting his team to hurry with their gear over to the elevator.

They hurried to the truck. Tony held on to Ziva's hand as Gibbs raced to the crime scene at what felt like the speed of sound.

The breaks announced their arrival, several people jumped in shock and turned towards the noise. They watched as Gibbs jumped out of the truck and hurried towards the area that was sealed off.

"He didn't even tell us what to do! Why do I have the feeling he is not telling us something?" Ziva asked her colleagues as they got their gear out of the truck and followed Gibbs to the crime scene.

Ducky was just taking the liver probe out of the body when Gibbs arrived.

"He died 30 minutes ago from what looks like a single gunshot to the head. I'll know more after the autopsy of course."

"Name?" He asked Ducky and Palmer. They must've noticed the slight change in his voice because they both took a good a look at him.

"Are you alright, Jethro?"

No, he was not alright. He was very close to passing out. But he didn't say anything instead he just glared at Ducky waiting for him to answer his question.

"Right… name. According to the lads library card his name is Jordan Fleming."

Ducky looked at him strangely when he whispered "Thank God", but he didn't care he was just so relieved that it wasn't Parker. Yes, he hadn't met Parker and didn't even know what the kid looked like. Just the thought of it being Parker was enough for him to think about his own two girls he lost so many years ago.

As Gibbs stood there Tony started sketching the crime scene. Ziva started taking pictures while McGee took out his portable fingerprint scanner to confirm the kids ID and to find out more about his parents. They glanced at Gibbs a couple of times each of them more worried and concerned.

He came out of his thoughts when Ducky said "I'll see you back at the Navy Yard, Jethro." The ME gave him the look that clearly meant they were gonna talk later. So Gibbs nodded knowing he couldn't avoid the talk no matter how hard he'd tried.

"Hey, what's the Doc doing here?" DiNozzo suddenly said getting the attention of the whole team.

And he was right, there she was. Sitting on a bench, with her arms around a boy's shoulders.

"Who is the boy?" Ziva asked.

Gibbs knew of course who the boy was, but chose not to answer. He was also thinking about something else, he wasn't too sure what to do now. Should he go over there or should he leave them alone?

He decided to run with the secret third option, he was gonna call her. So he dialed her number and hoped she was going to pick up.

Gibbs looked as she dug through her purse to find her phone. And he was very pleased with himself when a little smile graced her face when she saw his name on the display.

"I'm surprised you waited so long before calling?"

"You guys okay?" He asked getting straight to the point.

"Yeah we're fine. Do you need to talk to Parker? I don't know if that's such a good idea right now." He liked that she didn't go into PsyOps-mode, right now she was in the caring-mother-mode.

"Do you think I need to talk to him?"

"Jordan was his friend, they were supposed to meet for lunch, but Parker was a little late." He watched as she stood up so she was out of Parker's earshot. "Was the bullet meant for Parker?"

It was the first time he had ever heard her voice sound scared. All Gibbs wanted to do was rush over to her and wrap his arms around her and calm her down.

"I don't know yet, but we're working on it." He didn't want to say it, but he probably had to talk to Parker. Very often the friends knew more than the parents.

"So what you are saying is that you have to talk to him?"

"Yeah" He could see she didn't know where to put her hand, she was nervous and worried.

She took a deep breath before answering "Is there any way we could do that in private with no cameras and no interrogation room?"

He understood she was protecting Parker. "I can be very creative. I promised to keep your secret." He could see the relief that washed over her face, even though he was yards away.

"Okay. Where and when do we meet?" She was back on the bench again with her arm around Parker's shoulders.

"You guys could come over for dinner? I'll throw some steaks on the fire."

"Okay, we'll be there."

For the second time she smiled, but this time she looked directly at him and he couldn't stop returning it with one of his own.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Thank you for stopping by and reading this. Also, thank you for the reviews and a big thank you to the people who have put this story on their alerts. I know it's been awhile since I've updated, but I have been busy with College stuff.**

**Anyway, here's the next chapter…**

* * *

They had gotten back to the Navy yard 30 minutes ago and had started to look through the file of Admiral Fleming, trying to find any enemies or anything else that stood out. They hadn't found anything yet, Gibbs hoped Abby would find something on the Admiral's laptop.

"The Admiral has a life insurance policy worth 2 million dollars, his son would get everything and his wife doesn't get a penny." McGee announced.

"Maybe she hired someone?" Tony said.

"DiNozzo and Ziva pick up Mrs. Fleming and bring her in." Gibbs ordered and stood up to see how far Abby had gotten with the laptop. He also needed Abby to put some good protection on Ryan's and Parker's files.

* * *

2 hours later the clock had just turned 6 and Gibbs was waiting for the Doc. Right now Mrs. Fleming was the only lead they had and it was a very strong lead. Mrs. Fleming had disappeared, she had cleared out her bank account and had driven off somewhere. His team was working on finding her.

Gibbs had told them he was interviewing a suspect. As he had passed Ziva's desk he had seen the look she shared with Tony, as if they knew what was going on. Ziva had probably figured out he was dating Ryan, she had always been good at reading people. He wasn't yet to confirm her suspicions.

* * *

He was in the kitchen seasoning the steaks, when there was a knock on the door.

"It's open!" He yelled while walking to the living room , he already had the fire going and it had reached the right temperature for putting the steaks on.

"Why do you even have a kitchen?" Ryan asked as they entered the living room.

He turned to greet them and for the first time he was face-to-face with Parker. Gibbs knew from the file that he was 13 years old and that he is a good student. He did look like a typical teenager. He had short black hair and the same grey-brown eyes like his mom, right now they even looked at him with the same curious expression. He was wearing a black Metallica t-shirt, a band Gibbs had heard about or at least Abby had mentioned them. He could already see Abby and Parker playing loud music in her lab. With his shirt he was wearing blue stonewashed jeans and a pair of very worn out black Converse.

"Well the kitchen came with the house. Hi I'm Gibbs, it's nice to meet you Parker." Gibbs stuck his hand out and Parker shook it, at the same time he took a good look at Gibbs as if he was trying to figure out if he could trust the man. "Why don't you guys take a seat, while I put the steaks on the grill?" Gibbs told them and pointed to the dining room.

Gibbs joined them and took a seat so that he was at the head of the table and Parker was on his right side.

"Now, before the steaks a ready, I have a couple of questions about what happened today. Has your mum told you what my job is?"

"No, but I know you're the one she talked to on the phone today, so I know you're a cop." Gibbs heard his voice for the first time and he sounded a lot older than thirteen, also he sounded very clever. McGee would like this kid, Gibbs thought with a smile.

"That's right I am a cop, a Navy cop to be exact. Are you ready to answer some questions?" He waited until he got a nod in return. "Good. Now, since we're not at the Navy yard we have to do this the old fashioned way." Gibbs stood up and walked to a bookcase in the living room to get a tape recorder. On the way back he flipped the steaks.

"Keep an eye on the steaks for me." He said to Ryan, it gave him the chance to talk with Parker in private.

He waited until they were alone before he turned on the recorder and asked his first question "Can you tell me what happened today?" He asked in a gentle voice.

"I was supposed to meet Jordan at lunch time, we always eat together. But today I was late." Gibbs could see Parker was trying very hard to keep his voice strong.

"Why were you late?"

"Mr. Williams, he's my science teacher. Anyway, he had some questions about my project so he made me stay late."

"Okay. What happened after you left?" They were getting to the hard part and he could see just how hard on Parker's face. His eyes were focused on one spot on the wall and his knuckles were turning white from holding onto the table very tightly.

He took a deep breath and then he started talking a controlled voice "I was walking along the hall when I heard a lot of screaming coming from the yard, so I hurried until I was outside. Everybody was running around trying to get away from the spot I usually meet Jordan. When I walked closer I could see him lying there and the blood everywhere." At that last part his voice cracked, so Gibbs reached out and squeezed his hand telling the boy that he had heard enough and had everything he needed.

"I'll go check on the steaks." As soon as he said it Ryan came rushing into the dining room again. He left mother and son alone giving them the chance to calm each other.

The steaks were maybe a bit over done for his taste, but it didn't really matter much. As he was putting the steaks on plates he listened as Ryan talked to Parker.

She was trying to get him to talk about it more, but Parker just kept saying he was okay. Gibbs knew what was going on, Parker was good at keeping stuff to himself. Bottling things up was never a good thing, again Gibbs knew what he was talking about.

"I said I am fine, mum!" Parker said forcefully as Gibbs came back to the dining room with the plates.

They ate in awkward silence. Parker seemed to be in his own little world of thoughts while eating his steak. Ryan meanwhile was keeping a close eye on her son, something told Gibbs that she not always could read what her son was thinking.

"Well that was a delicious steak, right Parker?" Ryan said and her gave her son a little shove with her elbow getting him to nod.

Gibbs took their plates and brought them to the kitchen and started doing the dishes. But the soap was snatched out of his hands. "You cooked, I will do the dishes." Ryan said and pushed him back to dining room.

He found Parker still sitting at the table still in his own little world.

"You know what I do when I need to think about some stuff?" Gibbs said and walked to the door of the basement. He waited a little but Parker didn't come, so he walked back to the dining room. "When I say it like that you really should follow me." He said and walked back to the basement again. This time Parker did follow him.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Yes, I finally had some time to write the next chapter. I thought I would've had loads of time to write chapters for all my stories, but things got rather hectic this summer. Anyway, I hope you can forgive me!**

**Michi-Gibbs, puparoo, CrimeShow Addict, RebaForever15, Hardcore Gamer 33, mahc, greeklilly, Ncisluver, Ryan Fan and Guest THANK YOU for reviewing the previous chapters!**

**And I have a question that's been on my mind for a while now; does anybody know if Jamie Lee Curtis is returning for the tenth season?!**

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Had Gibbs really just taken her son down to the basement? That could not end well. Her son had inherited her will to find out the truth and not caring how he got it. He had gotten in trouble for it a lot of times.

Right now though she hoped Gibbs could hold his own, because she couldn't deal with Parker right now. Having a teenage son wasn't easy. At the moment he was in a phase where he wanted to do everything on his own. Her sister had told her the phase could last all through his teenage years, she hoped Parker's phase wouldn't last that long.

It didn't take long for her to finish the dishes, she should probably put Gibbs out of his misery.

The door to the basement was open and she could hear them talk, so she stepped closer to the door and tried to listen.

"I know it's hard right now, but don't make the same mistake I did." It was Gibbs' voice she heard and she could hear them sanding some wood.

"What mistake did you make?" Ah, yes Gibbs had figured out that Parker is very curious and couldn't possibly let something like that alone.

"Well, I've lost men and women on the job and the biggest mistake I did make, was bottling things up inside." She knew of course that he was talking about Mike and Agent Todd, she knew from his file what had happened to them.

After Gibbs had said this they were quiet, the only sound was from sanding the wood. She imagined Parker was thinking about what Gibbs had just told him.

So she left them alone, it looked like Gibbs could handle himself. She went back to the living room where she settled on the couch with a fishing magazine.

Meanwhile, back in the basement the boys were very focused on the sanding. Although it looked like Parker was back in his own little world again, while Gibbs was more focused on the wood. He so focused on the job that he didn't even notice that Parker had stopped sanding.

"So what do I do now?" He asked and Gibbs knew what he meant. How did he move on from losing his best friend?

"Won't be easy, but if you're open about it you can accept it and move on." Gibbs hoped Parker understood him. Talking about his feelings and giving emotional advice had never been his strong suit.

"So in other words I should talk with my mum?" He didn't need Gibbs to answer, he was talking to himself.

The rest of the time they spend in silence. Gibbs was back to worrying what he should say if Parker asked something about how he knew his mum. He should've talked with Ryan first before taking Parker down to the basement.

Gibbs watched as Parker sanded the wood. He could see the boy was taking his anger and frustrations out on the wood, which was exactly what Gibbs had wanted to happen.

Something was bothering Gibbs though. Usually the loved ones of a victim ask a lot more questions, like how they died or what really happened. Maybe Parker knew something he hadn't told Gibbs.

They were interrupted before he could ask though.

"Parker!?" Ryan yelled down to the basement. "Come on we need to go it's getting late."

They walked up the stairs and met Ryan in the hall.

"Why don't you get in the car, honey? I need to talk with Gibbs before we leave."

They watched as Parker walked to the car and waited until he had shut the door.

"So, do you have to talk to him again? Or did you get everything you needed?" He could see she wanted it all to be over, but he knew he couldn't promise her that. Gibbs didn't even need to answer she could see it in her eyes. "I'll see you later then."

"Yeah. When will that be?" He wasn't talking about the case anymore.

"What do you mean?" Clearly she didn't want to talk about it. But too bad, he thought he was tired of waiting.

"It's been two weeks… Why didn't you call?" He realized it did sound a bit like a teenager, but again he didn't really care he need to know.

"You didn't call either." He stared at her knowing that she was trying to talk herself out of it. "Alright that's not it. Can we please talk about it when we're alone?"

"Okay when?" Okay there was something seriously wrong here. Something important they needed to talk about.

"How about tomorrow? I can get my sister to watch Parker for some hours."

"No you need to be with Parker right now. I can wait, not two weeks, but I can wait."

"Thank you." She smiled and slowly stepped closer and kissed his cheek. He closed his eyes as soon as her lips touched his skin, he was savoring the feeling. His eyes were still closed when she whispered "I'll call you."

He watched as their car drove along the street. Parker was looking at him through the window and even Gibbs could see the betrayal in the boys eyes, even though he was several feet away. Parker must've seen the kiss his mother had given Gibbs.


End file.
